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Fire and Rescue Services (Race Relations)

Mr. Dhanda: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fire and rescue services have (a) complied with their statutory duties under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, (b) published a race equality scheme and action plan and (c) carried out race impact assessments. [216584]

Mr. Raynsford: I have been asked to reply.

This information is not currently held centrally. However, under the requirements of the best value performance indicator (BVPI) 2B for local government, all fire and rescue authorities are in the process of providing the Office of the Deputy min Minister with information relevant to their compliance with their statutory responsibilities under the Race Relations (Amendment ) Act (RR(A)A) 2000. This information will be reported in our publication The Office of the Deputy min Minister Best Value Performance Indicators 2003–04" which will be available this spring.
 
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This report will be published on the Office of the Deputy min Minister's website and copies will be available in the Libraries of both Houses.

Additionally the Office of the Deputy min Minister is gathering more in-depth information on the service's compliance with the requirements of the RR(A)A 2000, in particular with regard to action planning and impact assessment. The results of this exercise will be reported to the Fire and Rescue Service Practitioners' Forum in June.

Sexual Assault Referral Centres

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many sexual assault referral centres are located in or adjacent to hospitals. [215572]

Paul Goggins: There are 13 Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) currently operating in England and Wales. 12 are based on single sites, with one based in two separate locations. Of the one-site SARCs, nine are located in or adjacent to hospitals. A further two are located in primary care centres. One occupies police premises in a residential area removed from any police station. The two-site SARC has one centre within a hospital, and one centre in police premises in a residential area.

The following list shows the location of the 13 SARCs:

	Location
St. Mary's, Manchester	St. Mary's Hospital, Manchester
The Haven Camberwell	King's College Hospital, London, SE5
The Haven Paddington	St. Mary's Hospital, London, W2
The Haven Whitechapel	The Royal London Hospital, London E1
REACH Centre, Northumbria	This SARC is based in two sites. One is within the Sunderland Royal Hospital, the other in a converted police house in a residential area
SAFE Centre, Lancashire	Royal Preston Hospital, Preston
Juniper Lodge, Leicestershire	Leicester General Hospital, Leicester
Milne Centre, Bristol	Bristol Royal Infirmary, Bristol
Renton Clinic, Kent	Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford
Rowan Centre, West Midlands	Within premises of Manor Hospital, Walsall
The Swindon Sanctuary, Wiltshire	Taw Hill Medical Practice, Swindon
Cambridgeshire SARC	Rivergate Primary Care Centre, Peterborough
Millfield House, Derbyshire	Converted police house in a residential area

Student Visa Extensions

Dr. Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the evidential basis is for his calculations of the cost of processing a visa extension application made by an international student studying at a British university. [214048]

Mr. Browne: The new fees I announced on 7 February expand the principle of full cost recovery to include the costs of providing the appeals system for leave to remain applicants, including students. We have calculated the fees using the full cost recovery formula, which has been approved by HM Treasury.
 
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The basic fee represents the full administration costs of delivering the decision up to and including the appeals process and outstanding deficits for providing the service. All elements have associated overhead costs.

The £250 postal charge for student leave to remain includes recovery of appeals costs. However, the fee set for students will mean we will not recover the full administrative cost of processing student applications.

Suicides

Mr. Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) male and (b) female suicides there have been in (i) prison and (ii) police custody in England in each year since 1997; and if he will make a statement. [216155]

Paul Goggins: The numbers requested are shown in the following tables:
Table 1: Male and female self-inflicted deaths in Prison Service establishments in England and Wales

Calendar year	Male self-inflicted deaths	Female self-inflicted deaths
1997	65	3
1998	81	3
1999	86	5
2000	73	8
2001	67	6
2002	86	9
2003	80	14
2004	82	13

The Prison Service employs the term self-inflicted death" rather than suicide". This includes all those deaths where it appears the person may have acted specifically to take his/her own life.
Table 2: Male and female suicides during or following police contact in England and Wales

	Female	Male
1997–98	3	31 (11)
1998–99	1	31 (16)
1999–2000	None	21 (7)
2000–01	None	7 (5)
2001–02	None	7 (3)
2002–03	1	12 (8)
2003–04	1	8 (4)

Note:
The figures in brackets show the numbers of those (both male and female) that died in police cells. The Home Office records this information on a yearly basis; 1 April to 31 March.

Every death that occurs in prison or following contact with the police is a tragedy and is treated with the utmost seriousness by the Government, and the Prison and Police Services. On 31 March 2004, I announced the outline suicide prevention strategy for prisons that can be summarised as, 'Reducing distress and promoting the well-being of all who live and work in prisons.' This follows extensive consultations including those with the Howard League, Prison Reform Trust, Inquest, the Youth Justice Board, Prisons and Probations Ombudsman, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons, Samaritans and the Department of Health.
 
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This builds on the three-year Safer Custody strategy that ran from April 2001, which was geared towards making progress in resettlement, detoxification, health, and purposeful activity, as well as staff outlooks, leadership and training. Key achievements were the placement of Suicide Prevention Co-ordinators (or equivalents) operating in all prisons, an investment of over £21 million at six 'Safer Local' pilot sites, and the development of safer prison design, including 'safer cells.'

Police forces are also working hard to ensure that all possible measures are in place to minimise the risks relating to suicide and self-harm. The care, assessment and monitoring of detainees are a top priority, custody facilities have been made safer and training and CCTV monitoring has been improved.

The Home Office, Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) and the National Centre for Policing Excellence (NCPE) have set up a Project Group to develop and disseminate policy and best practice on the safer handling of detainees in order to prevent deaths in custody. The Project Group hopes to publish this guidance in January 2006, following consultation with practitioners within the CJS and health/medical disciples.

Tackling Intruders

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people have been charged in connection with people tackling intruders in (a) residential properties and (b) retail properties in each year since 1990; [214323]

(2) how many people have been convicted of an offence in connection with people tackling intruders in (a) residential properties and (b) retail properties in each year since 1990. [214324]

Paul Goggins: It is not possible to identify those persons prosecuted or convicted for offences arising out of the intruders entering their property, as the circumstances surrounding an offence are not centrally collected on the Home Office Court Proceedings database. However the Director of Public Prosecutions would look for clear evidence of very excessive force before considering a prosecution.
 
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